Page 80 of Savage Throne
“Enough! I won’t do it.”
And then just like that, Leo moved fast—too fast. He was up and in front of me before I could step back.
SHIT!
However, his hands wrapped gently around my arms, to my shock his touch was firm but not rough, like a lover’s grip, not a captor’s.
He leaned in close, so close that I could feel the heat of his breath against my skin and smell the faint scent of jasmine lingering on him.
My heart stuttered, betraying me, because for a fleeting second, I thought he might kiss me or something.
I widened my eyes.
His hands slid slowly up and down my arm, soothing me. “Do this, Monique, and you’ll rule the world.”
I trembled.
“You’ll rewrite your family’s legacy. No one will ever harm you or your sisters again. You’ll be untouchable.”
I closed my eyes and trembled some more.
“You’ve already begun,” He whispered, his lips were dangerously close to my ear. “This is just thefinalstep. You’ve come too far to turn around now.”
His hand slid up to cup my elbow, and I shivered under his touch. He felt like fire and ice, and the space between us crackled with something dangerous.
“You’ll be free after this.” Leo's voice was honey laced with poison. “And after this. . .you’ll never have to look over your shoulder again. No one will ever threaten your sisters. Lei will see you the way I do—a queen among men.”
I opened my eyes, his gaze was on me; dark and endless.
“Do this, and everything you’ve ever wanted will be yours,” Leo whispered. His hand lingered on my arm, and the touch became even more tender. “It’s not just survival, my little monster. It’s power and it’s yours if you take it. Please. . .take it.”
I knew what he was doing, manipulating me, twisting my thoughts until I believed this was my only option.
But part of me—God help me—felt the temptation curl inside my chest.
Because the promise of safety, of power, of freedom was intoxicating.
And the worst part was, Leo knew it too.
“L-leo. . .I-It’s going to be a lot of killing and blood and bodies and. . .I’m terrified.”
“It will be messy, yes.” Leo tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he was just starting to solve. “But beauty often comes from chaos. Destruction is merely a part of creation.”
I turned my head and looked at the crackling embers in the fireplace.
“Think about it, Monique. Even God, in His infinite wisdom, created through destruction.”
I put my view back on him. “What do you mean?”
He leaned closer and his breath was even warmer against my ear. “Look at the flood. God wiped out everything—drowned the wicked, the innocent, all of them. And why? To start again. To create a world purged of evil, a world with a clean slate.”
I shivered and not from the cold.
“Destruction isn’t the opposite of creation, my beautiful little monster,” His voice shifted to a low hum that seeped under my skin. “It’s the first step. You tear down what doesn’t work—what’s weak, flawed, dangerous—and in the space left behind, something beautiful can rise. Something captivating.”
He brushed his thumb over my elbow, sending a spark down my arm. “The Phoenix doesn’t appear from nothing. It rises from ashes. Ithasto burn first. It must.”
Those damn words dug deep into my mind, deeper than I wanted to admit. They made a sick kind of sense; the kind that clung to my soul and refused to let go.
